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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

BUREAU OF FISHERIES 

HUGH M. SMITH, Commissioner 



THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND ITS BIOLOGICAL STATION AT 

BEAUFORT, N* C* 



The United States Bureau of Fisheries was instituted in 1871 by 
the passage of a joint resolution of Congress creating the office of 
Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, to be filled by a civil officer of 
the Government having a scientific and practical knowledge of the 
fisheries, who was to receive no additional compensation. Prof. 
Spencer F. Baird, then Assistant Secretary, afterwards Secretary, 
of the Smithsonian Institution, was appointed to the office and served 
until his death in 1887. By that time the duties of the position had 




Laboratory at Fishery Station, Beaufort, N. C. 

become so heavy as to demand the entire time and attention of the 
Commissioner, and soon after the office was divorced from other 
Governmental work and accorded an independent status and salary. 
Until 1903 the organization was known as the United States Fish 
Commission and was responsible directly to Congress, but in that 
year it was made a bureau in the new Department of Commerce and 
Labor, now the Department of Commerce. As originally constituted 
it was an institution for investigating the condition of the fisheries in 

34257°— 16 



2 BUEEAU OF FISHERIES, 

respect to their alleged depletion, the causes ^vliich may have lead to 
their impoverishment, and the means by which they might be con- 
served and their productiveness increased. As a result of the scien- 
tific and statistical investigations, the Commissioner soon determined 
that certain fishes had decreased, and was able to recommend an effi- 
cient means for bringing about an increase or at least arresting fui-- 
ther depletion. This was to be accomplished through the agency of 
fish culture, and little time was lost in securing for ths project the 
sanction of Congress by an appropriation. 

In 1872 a few salmon and shad were hatched and planted, and by 
1880 eight species of fishes, including three kinds of salmon, two 
trouts, shad, whitefish, and carp, were being produced on a compara- 
tively large scale and active experiments were being conducted to 
determine the methods best suited for other species. 

This phase of the Bureau's work has now grown to enormous pro- 
portions, and in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, 49 species were 
propagated, these including, in addition to fishes, the lobster and 
several species of economically valuable fresh-water mussels. The 
total product of these was over four and a half billion eggs and 
young, which were planted in every State and Alaska. Some idea of 
the magnitude of the work of distributing these is indicated by the 
fact that it involved 637,716 miles of travel, of which 146,641 was by 
the Bureau's special cars and the rest by messengers. These marine 
and fresh-water fish and invertebrates were collected and hatched by 
40 stations and 95 substations located in 34 States and Alaska. In 
addition 8,404,000 food and game fishes were rescued from overflowed 
lands, wdiere they were in peril of being left by the receding waters, 
and returned to the safety of the streams. 

Solely by reason of these fish-cultural operations and similar activ- 
ities on the part of the States, the supply of trout and other game 
and food fishes in streams and small lakes is being maintained and 
increased, the whitefish of the Great Lakes is holding its own, the 
shad in certain waters is being saved from extinction, and the effects 
of heavy fisheries for the Pacific salmons and certain marine fishes 
are being compensated. As a result of transplanting, the Atlantic 
shad and striped bass are abundant on the Pacific coast, and the 
former are being shipped back in large numbers to supply the mar- 
kets of their ancestral regions. Certain depleted salmon rivers of 
Maine recently have been planted with humpback salmon fry from 
the Pacific coast and small runs of breeding fish already have 
appeared in several of those streams, raising the hope that the nearly 
exterminated Atlantic salmon may be replaced by a worthy successor, 
better able to cope with the conditions established by the settlement 
of the country. It is believed that the recently inaugurated propaga- 

D. of D. 
JUN IS 1^16 



' /\\-0 [BIOLOGICAL STATION AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 3 

tioii of fresh-water mussels will relieve the prospect of a depletion of 
the supply of raw material for the pearl-button industry. 

The statistical work inaugurated as a necessary part of the original 
functions of the Bureau has been continued and enlarged. Period- 
ical canvasses are made of the fisheries, usually by geographical 
regions, e. g.. New England States, Middle Atlantic States, South 
Atlantic States, Gulf States, Pacific Coast States, Mississippi Elver 
and tributaries, Great Lakes, minor interior waters, and Alaska. In 
the last few years unusually comprehensive statistical reports have 
been published on the oyster, menhaden, lobster, and fresh-water 
mussels. This statistical information is not only of immediate in- 
terest to the fishery industries, but is highly important as a basis for 
determining the necessity and the measures for the regulation and 
conservation of the fisheries. 

The regulation of the fisheries, whether in navigable waters or not, 
is a function of the government of the several States within which 
they are located, and until recently the Bureau of Fisheries had no 
executive duties in the enforcement of fishery regulations, although 
through its advisory capacity exercising large influence over fishery 
legislation. It is now charged, however, with the enforcement of the 
laws relating to the fisheries and the taking of fur-bearing animals in 
Alaska, and has entire administrative control of the Pribilof Islands, 
their native inhabitants, and the fur-seal herds which resort to them 
during the breeding season. The annual value of the fishery products 
of Alaska is about $20,000,000, or over two and one-half times the 
original cost of the Territory to the United States. 

The scientific work for which the Bureau was originally created 
has grown greatly in both quantity and scope. It embraces the study 
of the habits, distribution, diseases, and classification of fishes and 
other aquatic animals, especially those of commercial importance, and 
of their food and enemies. As any organism is controlled more or 
less by its environment, the study of a commercial species involves 
investigation of the other animals and plants with which it is directly 
or indirectly associated and of the physical and chemical characters 
of the waters in which it lives. The information necessary as a basis 
for the conservation and improvement of the fisheries, therefore, 
covers a wide field in aquatic biology, physics, and chemistry, and 
the scientific work of the Bureau is governed by an appreciation of 
these requirements. 

The results of investigations are not always susceptible of imme- 
diate practical application, and to make them commercially valu- 
able a considerable part of the Bureau's work consists of experi- 
ments to develop methods by which they can be applied to the needs 
of humanity. 



4 BUEEAU OF FISHEBIES. 

Investigations and experiments are conducted by "field parties" 
Avorking in all parts of the country, at the general laboratory in 
Washington, the marine biological stations at Woods Hole, Mass., 
and Beaufort, N. C, and the biological station on the Mississippi 
Eiver at Fairport, Iowa. For marine investigations the Bureau has 
an able seagoing steamer, a coastwise steamer, and a fishing schooner 
Avith auxiliary gasoline engine power, and various launches and small 
boats are emploj^ecl both on the coast and in interior waters. In 
addition to the small permanent scientific force, which is inadequate 
to meet the demands, the Bureau employs temporarily a large num- 
ber of qualified investigators and assistants connected with universi- 
ties, colleges, and other institutions of learning. Some of the practi- 
cal scientific aid which the Bureau has extended to the fisheries in 
recent years consists of the location of new fishing grounds, the 
development of markets, and means of using wasted or neglected 
fishery resources, the development of methods of sponge, terrapin, 
and fresh-water mussel culture, causes of disease in fishes, surveys 
of oyster bottoms and recommendations for their conservation and 
utilization, recommendations for State fishery legislation, etc. 

The results of the work of the Bureau are published in two series, 
the "Eeports," of which there are 40, and the "Bulletins," of which 
39 bound volumes have been issued to 1915. A recently established 
series of " Economic circulars " gives prompt information on sub- 
jects of economic interest. These and pamphlet separates of the 
papers included in the reports and bulletins are furnished to inter- 
ested persons on application to the office of the Bureau, Washington, 
D. C. Mention of some of the work recorded in these papers is 
made in the following account of the equipment, functions, and 
accomplishments of the biological station at Beaufort. 

The coast of North Carolina, with its rivers, its great salt, brack- 
ish, and fresh-water sounds, its sea shores, bights, and offshore 
banks, has long been noted for its fisheries. It is recorded of the 
Indian Chief Manteo that, after his visit to the ships of Sir Walter 
Ealeigh's colony on Roanoke Island in July, 1584, he " fell to fishing, 
and in less than half an hour he had laden his boat as deep as it 
could swim." First the early explorers and later fishermen and 
naturalists have been attracted to the coastal region of North Caro- 
lina by the wealth of aquatic life — fish, oysters, clams, scallops, 
crabs, shrimp, terrapin, porpoises, seaweeds, and a host of living 
things which have no names other than those which science has given 
them. 

Following the visits of the zoologists, Gill and Stimpson, in 18G0, 
and Coues and Yarrow, in 1871-72, Beaufort became a resort for 
persons interested in biology, and for a period of 10 years some of 



BIOLOGICAL STATION" AT BEAUPOET, N. C. 5 

the professors and students of Johns Hopkins University main- 
tained a laboratory here. Prof. Baird and otliers connected with 
tile Bureau of Fisheries investigated the fishes of the region -within 
the first decade of the Bureau's existence, but it was not until June 1, 
1899, that a fisheries laboratory was established. This was in a 
rented building, but in 1900 Congress authorized the erection of a 
biological station, and on May 26, 1902, the present building was 
thrown open for research. Situated in a region in which fishing- 
is a leading industry and where a considerable part of the popula- 
tion is largely or entirely dependent on the fisheries for a livelihood, 
the laboratory was established with the primary purpose of furnish- 
ing aid to that industry. Therefore, while scientific investigation 
must precede fish culture and the other phases of fishery conserva- 




Laboratorj' on the left, mess house and pump house on the right. 

tion and development, to discover the laAvs and the facts which fur- 
nish the foundation for " practical " work, the laboratorj^ does not 
stop with pure research but endeavors to make concrete application 
of the results. 

THE STATION AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 

The station is situated on Fivers Island, with an area of about -1 
acres, about 150 yards west of the city of Beaufort. The plant con- 
sists of the laboratory building, a mess house and kitchen, power 
house and pumj^ing plant, carpenter shop, boathouse and ways, and a 
terrapin-rearing house. Along the shores are four large concrete ter- 
rapin pounds, a concrete pool for sharks and other large fishes, and a 
landing pier. Most of the island is graded and planted with grass 



6 



BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



and shrubbery and the more exposed shores are protected from ero- 
sion by sea walls of concrete and heavy granite bowlders. 

The laboratory building is a two-story frame structure, YO feet long 
and 42 feet wide, with 2 two-story wings each about 52 feet long 
and 18 feet wide. The wings are occupied by six bedrooms each, for 
the accommodation of the enlarged scientific staff employed during 
the summer, while the central portion of the building is devoted to 
purposes of investigation, instruction, and administration. The 
laboratory occupies the entire second story, removed from the dis- 
tractions and noises inseparable from those parts of the buildings 




Interior of laboratory. 

and grounds open to the general public. Along the north and south 
walls are alcoves for investigators, separated by half -height, parti- 
tions, designed to interfere as little as possible with the free passage 
of light and air. Each is provided with a table and shelving and 
whatever aquaria, dishes, apparatus, and reagents may be required 
for the particular work in progress, and one or two high windows 
furnish light and ventilation. 

Near each end of the laboratory are two large tank tables, with 
aquaria, affording facilities for keeping and observing the live plants 
and animals brought in from the waters of the harbor. Chemical 
reagents and other frequently needed supplies are kept in two long 



BIOLOGICAL STATION AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 7 

locker tables conveniently placed in the center of the room, but the 
more bulky and fragile glassware and special apparatus is stored in 
the supply room on the first floor and issued as required. Sinks, a 
fume chamber, and a photographic dark room are located along the 
end walls of the room. 

The museum occupies the first floor and is open to the public. It 
contains many animals and plants representative of the marine fauna 
and flora of Beaufort Harbor and its vicinity, and will prove of 
interest to the casual visitor, but particularly to those who fish or who 
explore the beach for the spoils thrown up by the w^ aves. The speci- 
mens at present (1916) in the museum were preserved primarily for 




Diamond-back terrapin eggs exposed in the nest. 

the use of investigators, but it is hoped eventually to have a specially 
prepared exhibit of greater interest and educational value to the 
general public. The tidal boxes and aquaria along the walls of the 
museum are intended for this purpose and are generally stocked with 
living organisms brought in by the collectors who daily scour the 
harbor and the shores in search of specimens. 

The library is in a room at one end of the museum and contains 
about 1,000 volumes. While small, it has been selected with special 
reference to the needs of the investigators, who also may obtain books 
from the excellent main library of the Bureau in Washington and 
from the other unusually rich public libraries of that city. 

The three other rooms corresponding to the library are used for 
offices, supplies, and special scientific purposes, respectively. 



8 BUREAU OF FISHEEIES. 

The laboratory building, as befits its needs, is abundantly supplied 
with both fresh and salt water. The former is derived from an 
artesian well, the flow of which varies with the tides, while the salt 
water is pumped from the harbor. The buildings and grounds are 
lighted by electricity carried by submarine cable from the city light- 
ing plant. 

There are attached to the station 2 launches, 26 feet and 33 feet 
long, respectively, and about 15 rowboats, which are used in making 
collections, and for special offshore investigations the Fisheries 
steamer Fish Hawk is detailed as required. There is an ample equip- 




luamiiuil-l)a'jk terrapin recently hatclied, nearly natural size. 

ment of the ordinary laboratory, apparatus and the collecting gear 
consists of a pound net, stow nets, beam and otter trawls, seines, and 
various types of tow nets and dredges. 

The radio station is a separate establishment operated by the^Navy 
Department by courtesy of the Department of Commerce. 

THE WORK OF THE STATION. 

The laboratory concerns itself mainly with two interdependent 
lines of work. In the first place it aims to conduct scientific investi- 
gations to determine not only the life histories of aquatic forms of 
economic importance, but also " the histories of the animals and 



BIOLOGICAL STATION AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 9 

plants upon which they feed or upon which their food is nourislied ; 
the histories of their enemies and friends, and the friends and foes 
of their enemies and friends, as well as the currents, temperatures, 
and other physical phenomena of the waters in relation to migration, 
reproduction, and growth." In the( second place it strives to show 
how the knowledge thus gained may be applied to maintain our more 
important fishery industries against deterioration and to reestablish 
those already depleted by natural means or by perfecting methods 
for supplanting or replenishing natural stock with that grown under 
more or less artificial conditions, bearing the financial burden in 
experimental methods of scientific aquiculture and in the search for 
undeveloped or unknown fisheries. 




Diamond-back terrapin pound. 

A review of what has been accomplished at the station is impos- 
sible in this brief paper. Reference to several investigations, illus- 
trating something of the diversity of the station's work, may prove 
of interest. One of the first was a report on investigations for the 
promotion of the oyster industry of North Carolina. Attention was 
called to the ways in which natural oyster reefs were formed under 
the conditions prevailing in this region; to the factors which one 
engaging in " oyster gardening " must consider ; to the misfortunes 
and successes of some of those who had attempted oyster farming; 
and, by experimental oyster planting, to the fitness or unfitness of 
certain bottoms to 03^ster culture. When the State awakens to the 
need of encouraging its citizens to engage in this industry and 



10 BUEEAU OF FISHERIES. 

supplies the machinery for properlj^ protecting oyster farms, this 
information will be in demand. 

One of the investigators made a report on the vegetation of Shack- 
lef ord Banks, calling attention to the changes which these banks have 
undergone from a region of forests reaching nearly to the water's 
edge on the seaward side, to one of barren desolation in which not 
even the huts of the fishermen are safe ; and in several instances they 
have had to be abandoned and new sites sought. Means of establish- 
ing barrier drives, of reforesting the region, and the value of various 
plants as sand binders, etc., are discussed. 

The work of the Fisheries steamer Fish Haiok in locating and 
charting some offshore blackfish grounds opens up new possibilities 
of special interest to local fishermen at a time when several of their 
important fisheries are at a Ioav ebb. The largest bank, lying about 
21 miles southwest of the bell buoy on Beaufort Bar is at least 7 
miles long by about 2|^ miles wide. To enable fishermen to find it 
with greater ease, a first-class can buoy has been planted near its cen- 
ter by the Bureau of Fisheries. 

One of the most unique and important constructive investigations 
has been the development of the artificial propagation of diamond- 
back terrapin whereby the cultural methods perfected at the labora- 
tory may be duplicated and a^Dplied to the cultivation of terrapin as 
a commercial enterprise. With the development of the regions which 
the diamond-back inhabits, it will be increasingly difficult to main- 
tain a natural supply. There is reason to believe that the commercial 
culturist may greatly increase the supply and cheapen the product. 

The station's plant affords a practical demonstration of working 
methods. Here, one seriously contemplating engaging in the industry 
may observe how the breeders, the eggs, and the young are cared for. 
Many problems of a practical nature as rate of growth, winter feed- 
ing to shorten the time of reaching a marketable size, etc., are being 
prosecuted. In its pens are terrapin hatched in the laying beds 
ranging in age from those just hatched to those 5 years old. The 
older broods have reached maturity and their progeny are being 
reared for comparison with their parents and the wild stock. 

In cooperation with the Forest Service of the Department of Agri- 
culture, studies of the ship worm and other marine borers have been 
conducted for several years with the ultimate object of determining 
how the damage to shipping, bridges, and wharves wrought by these 
destructive animals may be controlled and minimized. This is a 
problem of great interest to shipowners and engineers, but for which 
no satisfactory solution has been offered. 

From the time the laboratory was first established to the present, 
the collection of information on the food, breeding, migrations, and 



BIOLOGICAL STATION AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 11 

life histories of the fishes of the region has been an important part of 
the work, until, with the possible exception of the vicinity of the 
Bureau's laboratory at Woods Hole, the knowledge of these matters 
is more complete than for any other locality on the Atlantic coast. 
About 260 species of fishes are known from Beaufort and its vicinity. 
Experiments are now being conducted to determine if some of the 
principal food fishes can be artificially propagated to advantage. 

While the chief aim is to render service to the fisheries, sight is 
never lost of the opportunity to carry on more abstract researches, 
and particularly to extend to volunteer investigators the facilities 
which the location and equipment of the laboratory afford. The pub- 
lications in pure and applied science which have issued from the 
station cover a wide range and many titles. 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1916 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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